Stars
by Lostlover5
Summary: Jack and Kate have a talk.


**A/N: My computer is being very slow lately and I have so many story ideas…anyways this is a one shot. Set some time after Ana and Libby were shot, and before they went into the woods with Michael. Hope you all like it!**

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Jack walked along the beach; the sand shifting beneath his feet as the waves came in and out, washing away his footprints behind him. He wished they could wash away all the memories of the past few hours…Ana Lucia and Libby getting murdered, Henry Gale escaping…just everybody's reactions to it all. Hurley's face was one he would never forget. And he had seen Kate crying into Sawyer's shoulder…

He shook his head trying to shake the memories away. Of course, they stayed in his mind. Everyone else in the camp was asleep, but he couldn't. Too many memories filled his head. He and Ana had gotten quit close for a while, and he just didn't get why. Why do the Others do things like this? Of course they had no problem taking a few of them every once in a while, so this wasn't much difference.

Jack stopped and looked out to the ocean. It always seemed to calm everyone else here, but he rarely had time to stop and just look out to the horizon. Now that he did, it just didn't calm him. He seemed to be restless, not being able to stand still for long. Jack turned back and started to head up the beach again, following it back to camp. Fires burned, but no one was about them.

He stopped and stared again at the ocean, trying to just relax for once. He couldn't. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Can't sleep either?" A voice said from behind him.

He jumped a little at it, but he turned around and saw who it was, and calmed a little. "No. I've got a lot on my mind." Jack said.

Kate nodded and came up next to him. The moon light shone off of her, giving her a slight glow. Her hair was down around her shoulders, and she was smiling slightly. "Yeah…me too." She replied.

They stood there in silence for a while, neither of them sure what to say. They hadn't spoken much sense the funeral, and they had decided to wait another day till they headed to the Others.

Jack looked down. "I feel sorry for Sawyer and Hurley."

All Jack wanted was the memories to go away…all of them just to be erased from his mind forever. He hoped it was all a dream, but he knew it wasn't. Ana and Libby were really dead, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"I think I know something that will cheer you up." Kate said.

Jack shook his head again. "No…I don't feel like doing anything right now."

Jack turned and started down the beach, but Kate stepped in front of him.

"Just try it Jack." Kate said, her green eyes looking into his, soft and understanding.

Jack stood there for a moment, not really sure what to do. He didn't want to do anything right now, just sit. But he guessed it was worth a try.

"Ok." Jack said.

Kate smiled softly at him. "Follow me." She said.

They headed up the beach, towards the jungle. Jack looked at her questioningly. Where were they going? All Kate did was smile, and go on, and he had no choice but to follow her.

The jungle was dark, making it very hard to see. The moonlight shone slightly, casting shadows and making it eerie. Kate seemed like she knew where she was going though, and continued one. Eventually, they got to a clearing.

"Wow…" Jack said, speechless.

The place was beautiful. There was a rock edge, with a small waterfall coming out of it. The water was crystal clear, and the moon shone off of it. The grass looked as if no one had stepped on it for years, so perfect that Jack was afraid to walk on it to wreck the beauty.

"Beautiful, I know." Kate said, smiling again. "I found this one day when I was out picking fruit. It's sort of like, my secret place to come to when the island is too much."

Jack nodded. He still couldn't believe it. The island was so dangerous, and it was hard to believe that a place like this would even exist.

"Come on." Kate said, starting across the grass, and to the waterfall.

Jack followed her, surprised that as he picked up his foot from the grass, it didn't leave a footprint. The grass still looked like it was never stepped on.

Kate went and sat down on a rock by the water fall. "Come sit down Jack." She said.

"What are we doing here, Kate?" Jack asked.

"I come here to watch the stars." She said. "It always helps me get my head clear."

Jack stared at her. Usually she couldn't stay still for a long time, and now she just sat and stared at the stars?

Kate rolled her eyes. "Just sit down Jack."

"How is this going to make me feel better? Just sitting here and watching the stars?" Jack asked.

"Trust me, it does." Kate said smiling.

Jack sighed and went over, sitting next to her. They both turned to the stars above. Something strange came to him right then. They weren't the same stars he had looked at back home. He had never really paid attention to the stars, but he could just tell. They were much farther away from home then he thought.

"Do you think it's all real?" Jack asked suddenly.

"What?" Kate asked, not taking her gaze from the sky.

"The button, the Others…all of it just seems not real." He replied.

Kate didn't answer for a long time. So long that Jack didn't think that she was going to answer. Then she sighed and turned to him.

"It is real. Sometimes, I trick myself into believing it's not. It all just seems…like too much. Like a nightmare." She looked back up to the sky again. "Only this time, I can't wake up."

Jack thought about it a moment. Kate was right. It was just like a nightmare, but no one was ever going to wake up from it. There was no escape from the island. No hope. It made his heart sink. None of them were getting off of the island, and deep inside they all knew it.

"I'm sorry about Ana…" Kate said softly. "You two were pretty good friends."

Jack didn't respond. He really didn't want to talk about that right now. Ana and he had been great friends, and Jack admitted he even felt a bit more then that about her. Then Sayid had told him he thought Michael was a traitor. That was more then Jack could handle, keeping it a secret from everyone. Especially Kate.

When he looked back at Kate, he realized she had lain down. He leaned back and lay down next to her. There shoulders were slightly touching, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Where do you know Desmond from?" Kate asked.

"How do you know I know him?" Jack replied.

"When he had Locke at gun-point in the hatch, and you got a good look at his face, he said 'you.' It sounds like you knew him." She said.

"You weren't there when that happened, Kate."

"I was in the vents." She said, smiling.

Jack was silent for a moment. "I was running one day, when I fell and twisted my ankle. That was a long time ago, I guess sense Desmond has been in the hatch for three years. We talked for a little, and that was it."

"Strange." Kate said.

Jack nodded. It was a bit strange how he had met someone years ago, and then end up on the same island with them.

Jack and Kate were both silent for a while, just enjoying the peacefulness of the moment. It wasn't often that they got to talk alone, and they were always comfortable together. No awkwardness or anything.

"Do you think we'll get Walt back?" Kate asked.

Jack didn't respond for a moment. Should he tell her about what he and Sayid thought about Michael, or not? It would get a huge weight off of his shoulders, and yet it could ruin the whole thing.

"Maybe, but…" Jack trailed off.

"But what?"

"Nothing." Jack said.

Kate looked at him. "I feel like there's something you're not telling the rest of us Jack."

"It's nothing." Jack said, not looking at her.

Kate stared at him for a moment, and then turned her head away. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not." Jack replied. He hated lying right to Kate's face, but there was no way around it.

"Do you promise?" She asked.

He didn't meet her eyes then. He couldn't.

"I knew it." Kate said. "Jack, if me and Sawyer and Hurley are going on this trip, we deserve to know at least what's going on."

"I can't Kate." He said. "Besides, it's safe. I promise."

"Fine…I believe you." Kate sighed.

They lay there in silence for a long time. Jack wanted so badly to tell Kate, but he couldn't. Sayid was right. It might ruin the whole plan.

"Jack?" Kate said suddenly.

"Yeah Kate?"

"I…I really want to tell you what I did." She said. "Why I was going to jail. It just…seems like you should know."

Jack nodded. "Okay." He said.

Kate nodded, and then began to tell him. All about what had basically happened sense Wayne had married her mother. All about Tom. Jack was surprised how abusive Wayne had been, and was glad that at least Kate had Tom.

When she was finished, Jack didn't speak for a while. He was still taking it all in. He knew Kate had killed someone, but she had a reason. A good one too.

"It wasn't your fault that Tom died." Jack said finally.

"Yes it is." Kate replied.

Jack shook his head. "You're not a killer Kate."

"You don't even know me Jack. What, we just meet each other on this island a month ago? You don't even know what I was like before this!" Kate said bitterly.

"I know you aren't a killer." Jack replied.

Kate didn't reply. Her head was turned away, and she wouldn't look at him.

"It's kind of strange isn't it?" Kate said. "All of us crashing on the plane. If we hadn't, we probably all just would have passed by everyone else. None of us would have ever met."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, it's strange."

They both looked up to the sky. The stars were disappearing, and the sky was turning the pinkish-orange color of dawn. They had spent all night lying there talking.

Jack began to think about what Kate had said. Now that he thought about it, it was true. If they hadn't crashed they just would have passed each other, most of then never even meeting. It made Jack kind of glad the plane had crashed. Even though he was stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere, and some people died now and then, he was glad to be here.

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**A/N: Hope you liked the story! It wasn't one of those sappy lovey-dovey ones that I read all the time, not that there is anything wrong with those! Anyways, review please!**

**Lostlover5**


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